Chapter Three: The Right Way Out
Chapter Three: The Right Way Out is the third episode of the first season of Coda. Synopsis * After escaping from the bandits, Harper's group locates the missing survivors, who have found a seemingly stable group of survivors in a campground nearby. (Present time) * Riley is found and rescued, however, when what looks like a bite risks her life, she must make an important decision. (Flashbacks) Episode Transcript The moon lit upon a dark and abandoned road, and a man ran across it to escape the impending walkers, trying to reach his dislocated group of scavenging survivors. "REBEL!?" He shouted, checking the ammo count on his pistol. No ammo left. "Holy shit, Brandon? I thought I lost you there!" Rebel shrieked, hugging her husband. "I'm alright, I'm alright, but there's some braindead right behind me. We gotta get the fuck out of here." Brandon grabbed Rebel's arm and began running alongside her. "Any idea where Cheryl and Fred went? I haven't seen them since sundown." Rebel stopped alongside Brandon to hide behind a tree. "I think I saw them go down. I'm not sure." Brandon looked from behind the tree to see the small pack begin passing them, "Shhhh." Brandon and Rebel ducked down behind the tree as a small section of the pack wandered off towards them. "Any idea where we should head now?" Kevin asked the driver, Declan, holding onto the wound on his leg with bandages they had stored in the SUV before leaving Exit 285. "I didn't get to ask Harp before we got out of that ambush." Declan spoke, keeping his eyes deadset on the vehicle in front of them. "You mean the one we started? Or finished...what the hell, who's keeping count around here?" Jason spoke up, referring the raid of bandits they had encountered. "They're still behind us, don't worry. I thought we lost them for a second." Laurel told Harper who was driving the car dead ahead of the SUV carrying the other survivors. "I saw Kev get shot, did he make it?" Ramona asked. The group remained silent. "Did he make it?!" Laurel reinforced Ramona's question with more confidence. "I think he got shot in the leg, I don't fucking know, all I saw was blood and all I heard was him scream." Harper yelled, hitting the steering wheel. "Riley? Riley? Sweetie, wake up, please wake up..." Declan shook on Riley's shoulder, as she was passed out from the pain in her ankle. "Is she bitten...?" Harper asked Ross, who was examining her wound. "I can't tell. It looks like it." Ross responded, shaking his head. "Fuck...what the hell are we gonna do?" Candace asked, shivering from the suspense. "If she is bitten...you know what we have to do if she turns." Ross told Declan, who was crying, trying to wake his wife up. "She's gonna be okay...I mean, Stu's okay, right?" Declan looked at Kari. "We uh...we left him in the car with medicine and a gun. He wanted us to come help in case things went to shit in here." Kari said putting his hand on his son's shoulder. The group collectively shared looks of concern over Stu's fate. Meanwhile, Brandon and Rebel stood behind the tree, preparing for an attack. "They're coming..." Rebel whispered to her husband. "Should we run for it? Or take them on?" Brandon asked her in a low tone, ready for anything. Without an answer, Rebel nodded her head and released her knife from the back of her pants. The duo turned to the other side of the tree and pounced onto some of the walkers, killing them with ease until they were crowded. "FUCK! RUN!" Brandon grabbed Rebel's wrist and began running, until the sounds of gunshots behind them caused them to turn and see the duo of Cheryl and Fred shooting at the pack of walkers. "Holy shit they made it..." Brandon sighed and smiled at this revelation. Rebel chuckled, before noticing the other survivors alongside them. "Is that Matt?" Rebel asked him, but Brandon nodded in confusion. "ARE YOU GUYS ALIVE? ARE YOU OKAY?" Cheryl called out, wondering if her friends survived the attack. "We're okay! Who's that with you?" Brandon responded, walking over to them, stabbing one last walker in the head for good measure. Cheryl looked behind her to see the other survivors they had met earlier in the day, before night fell. "This is Ben, and this is Avery." Fred answered for her, holding out his gun and scanning the area for any stragglers. "Yeah, that's me. I'm Ben. Your friends here talked us into letting you come with us. We've got a campground set up a couple of miles from here." Ben spoke up to the duo of Brandon and Rebel. "You guys find the rest of your group and you're welcome to stay as long as you want." Petra added on. "Our next move would have to be getting to the rendezvous we set up in case anything happened. Brandon is smart and would lead them there, I hope." Matt asked Harper, giving her the location of the tree they set up with red tape and tents, "We checked there a while ago, but no one was there. We can stay there until the rest show up." "Alright. We'll head there and set up camp." Harper responded, taking the turn for the location provided. The group exited the law firm to the car they had left Stu with, only to notice he was not there. "Where the hell did he go?!" Kari exclaimed, putting his hands on his head. "Oh shit. There's no way he was strong enough in his condition to just get up and leave." Ross pointed out, "Unless..." They realized the door he was near was still open. "Oh my god...no, please no..." Harper placed her hands on her eyes and began sobbing. "He's gone." Ross finished off, as Declan and Candace exited the law firm, as well, with Declan helping Riley walk. "Riley! You're okay?" Jason shouted, smiling, and running to greet Riley. "I don't know...I hit my head pretty bad, don't know how the hell I got this wound on my fucking leg." Riley muttered, wiping her head of sweat. "Do you remember being bitten...?" Ross asked her, and she fell silent. The night had passed, and Brandon's group had already checked the Exit 285 gas station for the remainder of his group. They were now headed towards the rendezvous location, similar to the remainder of the group. "We had to hole up the night in the gas station, but if they went there to find us, here's hoping they're still there." Brandon muttered, driving Ben's SUV. "When we find them, we'll get you guys to our camp, get you settled in." Ben mentioned. "Are we gonna be okay there? Is it safe?" Rebel asked, curious. "Safe as hell. Haven't lost someone in a long time. And then...it was on their own terms." Ben answered, looking down. Harper awoke to Piper screaming. "What the hell is going on out here?" Declan exclaimed, only to have a gun shoved to his face the moment he exited one of the tents. "Remember us, asshole?" Roger aggravated him, chuckling. "Fuck..." Kari muttered from Terry's gunpoint. "You killed our friends...yer fuckin' dead." Clay laughed, ready to blow one of their brains out of his choosing. "Let's take 'em out to that shed down there and kill two of 'em there. Payback fuckers." Terry yelped. From inside one of the tents, Jason and Piper remained hidden. "This is the spot." Brandon exclaimed, pulling up to the rendezvous location, noticing the group's cars, but not the group itself. Brandon and the group exited the SUV and looked into the tent, to see Jason protecting Piper. "BRANDON!" Piper yelled, hugging Brandon as he entered. "Oh shit. What happened to everyone else? And who the fuck is this kid?" Rebel asked as the others exited the tent. "I'm with a group we found your's. We left the gas station to come find you guys and we got attacked by some people. They found us and took them to that shed over there to kill them, we need to help." Jason said to Brandon. "Damn right we have to help them." Petra claimed, loading her shotgun. "Right here. Which ones do we get?" Terry exclaimed, her triggerfinger ready to be used. "Not the one who's already shot...he'll die on his own." Clay answered, staring at Kevin and biting his lip. A noise the bandits heard outside made them jump, and Terry volunteered to check it out. Outside the shed, Terry searched with her pistol aimed. "Who the hell is out there? Didn't sound like biters. Nah, they ain't calculated 'nuff to hide like y'all." She exclaimed, ready to kill. "Show yers-" Her sentence was cut off by Petra punching her in the side of the head, knocking the gun out of her hand. A walker approached, and Ben helped by shoving Terry into the walker, and the walker bit into her face, as she shrieked in pain, dying. "Shit, those guys in there probably heard that." Brandon whispered, as the bandits exited the shed to find them. Walkers right behind the group, Brandon had an idea. "No...no, I'm not fucking bit. I didn't run into any walkers in there until I heard you guys, and then you got them and I passed out. I don't remember what this is though." Riley answered, looking at her ankle, "Probably busted it when I passed out." "Thank God." Declan hugged Riley, and engaged her in a kiss, before noticing Harper crying, "Harp, what's wrong?" "Stu..." Harper wiped her face off, "he turned. He's gone. He's gone..." Clay exited the shed, and Brandon pulled him forward into a pack of walkers. "WHAT THE FUCK!?" Clay shouted as the walkers ripped him apart and he wildly shot his weapon into the sky. Roger ran outside, and Petra shot him point blank in the stomach with her shotgun, killing him instantly, and eliminating the threat. The group walked inside to reunite with the rest of them. The group had a caravan heading towards Ben's camp. Matt driving one SUV, Ben driving one SUV, and Laurel driving the car. In the car, Laurel discussed what happened with Kari, who had Ramona, Piper, and Jason in the back seat. "I don't know what we'll do when we get there. There's gotta be enough room for all of us, right? It doesn't seem possible. There's just so many..." Laurel spoke to Kari. "If Ben offered, it's gotta be true." Kari replied honestly, "I won't let it not be true. If it's not true, we just gotta find the right way out and make it on our own on the road." The caravan finally reached the camp ground, with a few of the survivors at the camp approaching the cars. "You're back! Finally." Avery spoke up to Ben, shaking his hand, "And some new people?" "Haven't seen any newbies in a while. Most recent was her?" Robbie responded, looking at the woman next to him. Harper and Declan exited their respective SUV to see a woman approaching alongside Avery. Riley. Co-Stars * Jeremy Allen White as Noah Ford (no lines) * Liza Weil as Petra Weil * Matt LeBlanc as Roger * Bruce Willis as Clay * Elena Davies as Terry * Ajiona Alexus as Cheryl Lee * Lochlyn Munro as Fred Cooper * Alison Brie as Candace Peters Deaths * Stu Stevens (Alive; Confirmed Fate) * Terry (Alive) * Clay * Roger Trivia * First appearance of Ben Monroe. * First appearance of Petra Weil. * First appearance of Brandon Robinson. * First appearance of Rebel Robinson. * First appearance of Cheryl Lee. * First appearance of Fred Cooper. * First appearance of Avery Stanson. * First appearance of Robbie Stanson. * First appearance of Riley Lodge. (In Reality) * Last appearance of Stu Stevens. * Last appearance of Roger. * Last appearance of Clay. * Last appearance of Terry. * This episode confirms Riley survived, and has been a member of Ben's group in her absence. * Shelley was originally planned to appear in this episode and survive, however, this was scrapped. * Brandon's scout group returns after being missing since before the series began.